When Thriving Kids starts in Victoria, what services will be delivered across greater Melbourne, and how families in every region — western, eastern, northern, southern, bayside and inner — can access support.
Thriving Kids services begin in Victoria from 1 October 2026, rolling out region by region across Greater Melbourne over the following 15 months. Families across all of metropolitan Melbourne will be eligible. Picolo Bloom delivers across every region — west, east, north, south, bayside and inner — including home, kinder, school and community settings.
Thriving Kids is a national program, but each state and territory commissions and delivers it slightly differently. In Victoria, the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) leads the rollout in partnership with the federal Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
Victoria’s allocation is significant — proportional to our population, that means hundreds of millions of dollars over five years going directly to community-based supports for families with children aged 0–8 who have developmental delay or autism.
Importantly: Victoria has chosen to deliver Thriving Kids through a network of commissioned providers rather than running it from inside government. That means families will choose from providers like Picolo Bloom, not from a single government service.
Every region of metropolitan Melbourne will have access to the same five categories of Thriving Kids support:
What will vary by region is how services are delivered — some regions will lean more on clinic-based hubs, others on mobile and in-home delivery, depending on local infrastructure and family preferences.
Including Werribee, Point Cook, Tarneit, Hoppers Crossing, Williams Landing, Wyndham Vale, Sunshine, Footscray, Melton, Caroline Springs. One of Australia’s fastest-growing regions and most culturally diverse — Thriving Kids delivery here will lean heavily on multilingual services and home-based delivery.
Picolo Bloom delivers across the entire western corridor, with strong CALD family support capability.
Including Box Hill, Camberwell, Hawthorn, Glen Waverley, Mt Waverley, Ringwood, Croydon, Lilydale. Established suburbs with strong ECEC and primary school networks — Thriving Kids delivery will often happen at kinder and school sites.
Including Coburg, Preston, Reservoir, Brunswick, Epping, Mernda, Craigieburn, Mickleham. Mix of established inner-north and rapidly-growing outer-north — service delivery adapts to both.
Including Caulfield, Bentleigh, Dandenong, Berwick, Pakenham, Cranbourne, Frankston. Vast region with diverse needs — strong demand for in-home and ECEC-based delivery.
Including Brighton, Sandringham, Mentone, Mordialloc, Hampton, Beaumaris. Established families with strong school networks — often prefer school-based or hybrid delivery.
Including CBD, Carlton, Fitzroy, Collingwood, Richmond, South Yarra, Prahran. Smaller homes mean clinic + ECEC delivery often preferred over in-home.
1 October 2026 is the national start date. Victoria has confirmed it will begin services from this date, though the rollout will be staged:
Early service categories live. Parenting supports, navigation, information hub. First allied health services in pilot regions.
Allied health services scaling across all six Melbourne regions. Playgroups and peer programs expanding.
Full scale. Full service mix available in every region. NDIS access transitioning for the 0 to 8 cohort.
Any Victorian family with a child aged 0–8 who has developmental delay or autism with low-to-moderate support needs. You don’t need a diagnosis. You don’t need to be in a specific suburb. You don’t need to be on the NDIS already.
Specifically, you can access Thriving Kids if your child:
Thriving Kids includes funded translation and interpreting services. Picolo Bloom’s team includes clinicians who speak languages including Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Mandarin and Vietnamese — common across western Melbourne.
Get monthly updates on the Victorian rollout. Be among the first booked when services open in October.
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